“The following program contains violent material, which may not be suitable for children. Parental discretion is advised.”
I enjoyed Blood & Guts because wrestling is usually better when based around punching and brawling and bleeding faces. That’s not science but I don’t think any of it is, so go with it. The match was good, great even: best WarGames match in almost two decades, plenty to be proud of. But AEW continues to have a conclusion problem.
The World
This is a world all about blood, guts, and The Elite still workshopping as TV heels. Double or Nothing (at full capacity!?) is a few weeks away but there’s either too much going on or not enough quality control going into what is.
Erratic expectations of the modern fan aside, nitpicking and naysaying and everything in between.. you can’t just end the show like that.
It wasn’t just that MJF pushing Chris Jericho off the top of the cage looked like carefully staged crap, though it did.
The show concluded with not a simple bloody (and gutsy) victory, but a stunt to continue The Story that felt like their second gimmick match dud this year rather than a hook for the future.
It also concluded feeling suspiciously focused on proving Y2J can do another crazy thing than just putting over The Pinnacle or even his own Inner Circle. Guys!!!
Elsewhere, Anthony Ogogo laid out Cody Rhodes while Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page promo’d their way into the upper midcard. They tossed Darby Allin down a concrete flight of stairs too. It was a shocking end to a cool angle and would’ve made for a much better conclusion to the show.
The Wrestling
Blood & Guts was an awesome match surrounded by some stupid stuff, so it was appropriate for 2021 if not completely JCP or whatever. Dax Harwood kicked it off and had a whole match with Sammy Guevara, who along with Santana & Ortiz took enough wild bumps to be the match’s MVP’s. Loved the high comedy art of Dax cutting open his forehead right away too; all the heels seemed to get the memo there.
The Pinnacle distracting Jake Hager by Dax telling MJF to not approach him only for Wardlow to chop block Hager as MJF approached him anyways was tremendous, complete with Dax smiling afterwards like he won something. The forfeit finish wasn’t executed well but forgivable; Jericho’s Big Bump was just dumb.
Jon Moxley/Eddie Kingston vs. Kenny Omega/Michael Nakazawa really needed a more audible crowd if all it was going to be was Mox and Kingston messing with Sprint employee Michael Nakazawa.
Cody Rhodes vs. QT Marshall was an OK match that did a bad job of extending their feud though an OK job of putting Anthony Ogogo in Cody’s place. The Britt Baker and Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Eliminator made for perfectly fine first hour filler too.
The Entertainment
Blood. Guts. Max Caster‘s “Dark Side of the Ring” bar. The return of Technique by Taz. Yuji Nagata.
Don’t let me being bummed out over the end of Blood & Guts take away from Darby Allin being amazing. This wonderful freak could’ve gotten away just doing a Coffin Drop off a concrete pillar holding up Daily’s Place amphitheater, but the man got himself tossed down a flight of stairs too. A superstar.
New prospect taking out top guy is quality entertainment, an angle that’s worked out well in many territories over the years. Not sure why Cody Rhodes — who usually does territory cosplay well — would call for super-double-extra territory cosplay and have Anthony Ogogo drape the Union Jack flag over him like he was Bill Watts. Weird move for a guy who’s stuff is usually way more purposeful.
Room for Improvement
- Up the volume on the live audience
- Up the volume on the crowd
- Don’t earn a reputation for bad conclusions
My Favorite Things
- Dax Harwood bleeding a minute in
- Wardlow
- Santana’s commitment to the cage bump
